Welcome everyone. Welcome. This story has been in the making for quite some time. Honestly, the further I got into writing it the more scared I was that it wasn't any good. But it's here all the same for you to enjoy. Another take on A Night with Corrin's' story, this time from Severa's perspective and in the third-person. Naturally, I'd recommend you read the original take to see things from Hoshido's side.

Let me know if you enjoy it won't you? I have two more chapters already waiting in the wings.

Let's begin... shall we?

Fallen Princess

For years the Kingdom of Ylisse had battled tooth and nail to hold off Grima's forces. There were brief moments of hope mixed in with the countless nights of despair. With every clash came more casualties - another friend to mourn. And with every fallen soldier came another addition to the undead hordes. Throughout all the loss and pain Severa hadn't given up.

She'd prayed and prayed for a better tomorrow. She prayed each night, at first. Then each week. Each month.

The prayers stopped eventually. Piling casualties saw to that.

The first to meet his end was old Frederick. The second was her auntie through marriage - Queen Sumia. The latest was her mother.

One by one those she loved had left her behind - ripped away by fate's cruel hand.

Ylisse's royal court had been reduced to the children of noble lords and ladies. Now... Grima's nearly limitless legions surrounded Ylisse's royal palace. And worst of all, there weren't enough soldiers to keep them out any longer. Deathly howls echoed throughout the halls of the once proud building, clashing with the steel of desperate knights in the midnight hour.

The palace walls shook. An exhausted garrison of royal guardsman fought on against the odds; they were just beyond the throne room. Time was short. Out of options, the daughter of once-exalted King Chrom took action.

"Severa, cousin." Lucina stood from her father's dusty throne and drew the sacred Falchion sword. "You should run."

"Like hell I'm leaving you behind, Lucie," she protested. "You'll die."

"Severa," Lucina commanded, her voice befitting a queen. With a serious gaze she stepped down from the throne and joined her cousin. Her expression falling, she embraced the redhead and pulled her close. "I'm asking you- No... I'm begging." With watery eyes Lucina pleaded. "Get out of here... before it's too late."

"I-I can't," Severa choked, squeezing Lucina with all the strength she could manage. "Where will I even go?"

There was nothing outside the castle besides death and ruin. She'd seen it time and again.

"The portal," Lucina replied, easing away and drying her tears. "It's your only chance."

Severa's eyes trembled at the revelation. "The one we went through as children?"

"Yes... Beyond the meadows. I sent Inigo and Owain ahead. They've already safely escaped."

A lump clogged the redhead's throat. "Y-You planned this all along?"

Lucina smiled so very sadly. Leaning in, she kissed Severa's forehead. "I did. Because I couldn't let my dearest friend follow my lead... We're family; sister's in oath like our father's before us. My place is here... but for you, Severa? There's still time."

No longer did the sounds of battle rage outside the throne room. There was naught but stifling, deathly silence. That gave way the ghostly moans of Risen. Working in frightful union as they often did, the lifeless monsters began thumping against the last obstacle in their way, causing the heavy iron doors before them to tremble.

Lucina twitched nervously, swallowing hard. "Go, quickly, before it's too late" she said with renewed urgency. Dents were already been punched into the door by the Risen's barbaric blows. "Take the passage behind the throne. Follow it down until you reach a wine cellar. From there you'll go underground and emerge beyond the castle's grounds."

Defeated, Severa nodded painfully. "...Okay, fine..." Too fearful to face the loss of yet another loved one, she turned from Lucina and walked on. Following her instructions, Severa heaved aside Uncle Chrom's throne and got on her way. "Goodbye, cousin..."

At first Severa walked. Her hands shook wildly as she went. Her steady footsteps became frantic when the throne room door smashed open. Pushed onward by the commotion behind, she reached the wine cellar guided only by a couple of dim wall candles. The screams of Risen and clanging steel flooded her heart with terror as she kept on. "Keep moving, Severa," she told herself over and over. "Keep moving, keep moving, keep-"

Lucina's distant scream resonated from far off in the distance. Just short of leaving the mouldy old cellar, Severa stalled, gripped by horror. Her shoulders tensed and her blood ran stone cold. Her breaths became small and weak. "Lucie," she choked, fighting the urge to fall to her knees and weep. "Lucie... no."

But where she could've surrendered, Severa kept fighting. "No way," she stood tall and defiant, crushing her agony as far into the pit of her stomach as it would go. "I'm getting out of here... I'm going to live," she swore.

Not just for the sake of Lucina... but for the sake of all who'd fallen before.

Having climbed atop a bookshelf for support, Severa reached the trapdoor at the end of the underground passage. With a heavy grunt the shoved the bothersome thing open. Her eyesight (having adjusted to the low light of cellars and dank walkways) ached when connecting with stabbing afternoon sunlight. Having herself from the ground, the redhead banged the trapdoors closed and stood tall, brushing the mud from her trousers. "Got it."

She cast her eyes ahead. A withered meadow (once lush and full of life in days gone by) awaited. There weren't any Risen here - not a single undead dastards. "Likely because they're in the castle," Severa exhaled - her body ached from such intense stress. Onward she went regardless, minute by minute and mile after mile - her feet crunched over dead grass as she went.

Death's loathsome stench permeated the air, making for an added chore to the redhead's travels. A tell-tale sign of trouble.

"Risen." The stink of decay followed them wherever they went. "I'd better be careful..."

"Alright... Made it." An hour of trekking over the rugged landscape brought Severa her destination. A thin sheen of sweat misted her face. "The Outrealm Gate," she forced a smile. The end was in sight. A swirling vortex of bluish black energy supported by a pair of olden stone pillars. She stepped nearer, inhaling and exhaling. "The only way out..."

Intent on bidding farewell to all she knew, the girl swung back one last time. Closing her eyes and bowing her head, Severa uttered a silent prayer to Naga - for her family, and for all of those she held dear.

There came a shift in the air - it manifested as a twinge in Severa's chest. She flinched in alarm and opened her eyes. The stink of death was back again... and with purpose. "Again with the damned smell," growled Severa, glancing back. A wisp of bluish fog shifted in the furthest corner of her vision. Prepared, she drew her blade. "Show yourself, monster," she demanded with venom and spun back.

A scream followed the command. From behind the left-hand pillar of the Outrealm Gate came a hollow-eyed humanoid. Its burly skin was tarnished a half-rotted shade of green. The thing shambled nearer, brandishing a knife its decaying right hand.

"Risen," Severa gulped hard. "Come on. You can do this. Just like Cordelia taught you..." The redhead took up a combat ready stance, gripping her sword with both hands. "Okay, you monster. Bring it on."

The Risen lumbered forwards and swung without coordination. Severa leaped back... but tripped and fell upon landing. "Dammit," she cursed, colliding against the dried, cracked earth with a jarring thump. Having conked her head, her vision spun in circles.

Devoid of sense of reason, the Risen shambled ever nearer. Flecks of sickly drool leaked from the corners of its mouth. The stink was absolutely eye-watering.

"Gods dammit!" Fighting the urge to vomit, Severa dragged herself up and regained her footing. Reclaiming her sword, she took fell into stance and readied to lunge. Her eyesight refused to correct, but she'd fight regardless. "I'll not let some rotting corpse beat me!"

The insult fell on death ears. Mindless in every way, the Risen swung again, as did Severa. She managed to parry the attack, though not without consequence. To her surprise, the Risen dropped its axe upon recoil - something they never did.

Throwing back its head with a disjointed snap, the monster screamed to the blackened skies.

Staggered, Severa withdrew her weapon and clamped her palms over her ears. Unfortunately, the terrible war cry was the least of her concerns. Off in the distance were the wisps of Risen - dots at first. Seconds dragged on, long enough for them to take form and shape. Half a dozen fiends awoke - doubtless called to the fray by their decaying companion.

"Shit," Severa cursed. "No choice but to run." Goodbyes and farewells could wait. Lucina's noble sacrifice would be in vain if she dawdled any longer. Turning tail and breathing deeply, Severa sprinted for the portal. The nearest Risen (having finished its ungodly combat call) was hot on her heels - it gurgled and hissed for innocent blood.

Pain. Sharp and relentless pain. Severa crunched her legs toward her chest. Winded and broken, she groaned in the fetal position. With great effort she opened her eyes. Through grainy vision was the Outrealm Gate.

As was the Risen. Having mangled both of its legs on the trip though somehow, it clawed across the sandy, barren ground in search of its pray. Severa tried retreating... but failed. It was as though the energy had been sapped from her body.

Dammit! She cried silently. W-Why can't I move?!

Closer and closer came her putrid pursuer. It snarled and gnashed its yellowy teeth.

"P-Please don't... No..."

A rotted hand neared her face.

"I have you, dearie," came an alluring woman's voice.

Someone grabbed Severa's legs instead, dragging her from the Risen's swipe.

A roaring white fireball ignited the living corpse, melting flesh from bone. The undead creature let out one final howl, sizzling and melting into a puddle of smoky purple sludge before Severa's eyes. Seconds passed, and the puddle evaporated - the stench went with it.

An alluring woman's laugh followed - the same from before. A pair of feet entered Severa's line of sight. She craned her weary head upward. She met a figure adorned in all too revealing platemail of midnight black. Tall of stature and perfectly curvy of figure, the lady threw back her wavy locks of purple. Her cool and calculating eyes fell upon Severa, and her lips rose into an unsteady, frightening smile. "So pretty," she spoke softly and sensually. "It would be a waste for you to die."

"W-Who are you?" asked Severa fearfully.

"Me? Darling girl? My name..." The stranger extended her hand and touched Severa's cheek. "...is Camilla."

For four days Severa had rested in a lavish bedchamber. Having been escorted to a sprawling castle within a crater, she steadily regained her energy with every passing day. The woman responsible for saving her life was important, it had become clear. 'Camilla' was her name. Not only had she rescued Severa from certain doom, either. She'd gone so far as clothing, feeding, and providing her while she recovered.

"Camilla." Severa recounted the name for what must've been the third time this morning. "Princess of Nohr - second in line to the throne."

Day after day Her Highness had visited and told Severa all manner of deeply personal stories. While the redhead had listened, she was far too exhausted to spark meaningful chatter in return.

It turned out Camilla was the daughter of ruling King Garon, and sister to a steely-eyed crown prince, Xander. She had more siblings, but Severa hadn't met them yet. Next was Corrin, apparently - a younger sister by adoption who was locked safely away in a distant fortress. Following her was Leo - an expert tactician and Garon's second youngest. Lastly was Elise, the treasured little sister of the royal family. A small army guarded her day and night.

Though Camilla's kind gestures were appreciated, Severa remained wary. "Why's she being so damn nice?"

There came a knock at the bedroom door. "Hey," it's me." called Inigo from behind the door - or 'Laslow', as he'd chosen to go by since arriving here. A simple change for safety's sake. "Mind if I come in?"

Severa slid her dinner tray off to the side. "Yeah, sure, Inig-" she stopped herself. "...Laslow. It's open!"

The dancer entered and shut the door behind. Flashing a winning smile, he sat at the bed's edge. "Glad you're awake."

Severa kept her voice low, careful of eavesdroppers. "Those gates take it out of you."

"You're telling me," Inigo chuckled. His expression soon dropped, becoming far more serious. "I've been meaning to ask, about Lucina..."

"Don't," Severa countered quickly, her stomach twisting into knots. Pained by her parting memory of Ylisse, she looked to the bed. "It's just the three of us now. You, Me, and Odin. No one else made it. Not Gerome... or Cynthia... or even Morgan."

"Dammit all," said Inigo, punching his fist into his palm. "We're alone, huh? No friends to bail us out."

"Yeah..." Severa swallowed the rising lump in her throat. "...All alone."

Silence fell. And with it so did any hopes Severa had kept alive. Defeated, she asked a question she'd mulled over since awakening in Nohr. "What in the hell do we do, Laslow? There's nowhere we can go; no way back. We're stuck here."

"We make the best of it," he answered weakly, forcing the largest smile he could manage.

"Or we die trying," said Severa, gloomy and cynical to the core. "Gods I bet Mother's laughing at me from on high."

Laslow's expression became dismal. "...You truly hate Cordelia, don't you?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Ohhhh yes," hissed Severa behind clenched teeth. "Uncle Chrom wouldn't have marched to his death if she'd done her damned job."

A response which earned a hollow sigh from the swordsman. "She loved you, Severa."

"Like I believe that," she scowled, bitterly opposed to the notion. "And it's 'Selena' now. Call me Selena."

Again the swordsman sighed. "A good name, at least."

"You're damned right it is."

A name of her choosing. A name free of her mother.

Four days became four weeks before Selena realized. She'd done everything she could to submerge thoughts of home far beyond reach. By day they'd become blurred and distorted, hard to recall at times. By night, however they returned with a vengeance. And sadly for the redhead, tonight was one such night. Three times had she tossed and turned in bed, her feeble attempts at sleep thwarted by visions of deathless hordes. And three times she'd held back tears, crumpled into a frightened ball, and stubbornly fought on.

She lay there anxious and breathless, gazing exhaustedly the four-poster canopy. Her simple white nightgown clung to her back with sweat. "This sucks. It really... really sucks," she whined, clamping her eyes closed in absolute desperation. "All I want is to sleep..." Her temper cooled from a simmer, turning to an awful, heavy sensation in her chest. "I miss home." Worn down, Selena pressed her face into the pillow and cried. Loudly.

So loudly in fact that someone knocked on the bedroom door after a time. "Selena, darling," sounded Camilla with concern. "Is something amiss?" The door creaked open; inside she stepped. "...Selena?"

Not one to shed the mask of her feelings, Selena stayed silent. Camilla's bare feet pattered over the soft velvet carpet, getting nearer and nearer to the bed. They stopped mere inches away. Her gentle breaths made obvious how near she'd come.

Camilla chuckled an affectionate, motherly chuckle. "Darling... If you're awake you need not fear me. I heard your tears from beyond the door. Do let me help. I'd like dearly to care for you." A touch of her hand upon Selena's shoulder caused a shiver, giving the game away. "Aha," Nohr's princess exclaimed. "Someone's awake, isn't she?"

Selena turned over and revealed herself - letting out a shortened sigh. "It's no bother, milady. Go back to bed..."

Though her watery eyes caught the royal off guard. "Dear girl," Camilla said with worry. "Whatever is the matter?"

Desperation mounting, Selena reacted in the only way she knew. "Why do you care?" she spat; her voice was pointed and hateful. "You hardly know me. We're strangers... my life's no darn concern of yours."

"Because, Miss Selena... I hoped you and I could be friends. And friends care for one another, do they not?"

For an instant Selena was disarmed. Camilla sounded just like Mother. "Y-You're serious?"

"Of course. One of your beauty is worthy of only the finest things. Like a precious flower... I'll care for you."

"Then prove it, milady." Selena regained her senses, remembering with whom she talked. "...I-If you don't mind."

Camilla's smile widened. "Anything you ask of me... within reason," she followed.

"Will you... hold my hand while I sleep?"

"I'd love to," Camilla answered. Extending a hand, she rested it atop Selena's. "I did the very same for little Elise as a child. She too feared the dark..."

"I-I'm not a kid," blushed Selena, her cheeks glowing.

"I would never imply as much, Selena. But should you ever require comfort, you need only say. I shall prevail in your time of peril. You're my guest... my friend. And my friends are well taken care of."

"Come to my room with me, Selena." Camilla walked on, through the busy castle hallway. "I have a question I'd like to ask... in private."

"Of course, milady," Selena lowered her head, having gained a deep respect for the princess. "Right behind you."

Four weeks were now six entire months. Much had changed since the arrival of the Ylissean survivors. Blaming Garon's general Hans for the wholesale slaughter of Okashi (a lush farming town) the eastern nation of Hoshido had stepped up hostilities against Nohr a moon or so ago. While the king was furious, the formal declaration was of lesser importance to Princess Camilla. She cherished only the notion of keeping her family intact during these trying times.

An all-out war loomed. She, Xander and Leo had been drilling troops for weeks. And the Border Wall was on high alert. Even Inigo and Owain had joined the fray, each of them having sworn fealty to Xander and Leo respectively after having proven themselves through trials of combat.

All the while, Selena was still Camilla's honored guest. Having remained at the royal's side most days and nights, she'd learned more of her personality - not least heard whispers among servants. Banter behind the princess' back was commonplace, and always at her expense. They talked of Camilla "wearing two faces". While endlessly loving toward friends and family (the side Severa saw daily) rumour had it she was violent and bloodthirsty in battle, also vindictive and promiscuous toward men and women whom she sought to manipulate.

Whatever the case, Selena wouldn't judge. Everybody had a darker side, as did she. The very name she wore in public was a dirty lie.

Following Camilla's lead, the redhead entered the bed chamber.

"Kneel, my precious Selena," said Camilla sternly, pausing upon the kitsune fur rug.

Selena was afraid at first. However, the question which followed filled her heart with pride.

"Will you do me the honor of becoming my retainer?"

"M-Me?" she stammered, shocked beyond compare. "Y-You want me... to protect you?"

"Without a doubt." Camilla smiled slyly. "Hide your origins as much as you like... I've seen your skills with a sword. You've were taught by a professional."

No sense lying. She'd trained with both her father, Robin (a master tactician) and her Uncle Chrom. "You're right. I was. Two of them."

Camilla offered a hand and chuckled. "I knew as much. So… what say you? Will you stand at my side as we wage war?"

There wasn't much need to mull the request over. Camilla had given Selena a home in recent months, not least a sense of belonging. Fighting at her side was the least she could do to repay her limitless kindness. "Yes, milady. I'll fight beside you. Now and always!"

For the first time in so long, Selena smiled a genuine smile.

To be continued...

There you have it! The first chapter comes to a close! Did you like it? Would you like to see more in future? Feel free to share some feedback and leave your thoughts. As always, keep on supporting Fire Emblem and I'll see you in the next chapter. Thanks again!